Winter ...

is creeping down the mountain side.

2010 Mascots?

Here they are Miga the Sea Bear, Quatchi the Sasquatch and Sumi the Thunderbird the new mascots for the 2010 Olympics. Miga is supposed to be a combination of an orca and a sea otter. Quatchi the Sasquatch... well he is supposed to be a Sasquatch. Something one or two people in this province claim to have seen usually after a night at the local bar. Sumi is supposed to be an animal guardian spirit?! They are not what I was expecting and hoping for. There was a rumor that the Spirit Bear or Kermode Bear, a rare white bear found in the central coast of our province that is almost extinct, would be the mascot and I was thinking how great that would be. It would not only be a wonderful souvenir it could also educate people as well. Instead we have these guys and I am not really sure I am into it. I am sure that they will appeal to kids and if the ultimate goal and final decision was to make money then this may be the way. However I would have liked visitors to our province to take away some of the flavor of who we are and what we are all about. I don't think this does it. What do you think?

Ooops! Now how did I forget - there is also Mukmuk who is ???? a mascot wanna be? Apparently he won't be showing up much (ya think! I couldn't find a picture of him) he is the first official sidekick for mascots?!?!? Now isn't that clever? I think.

What a difference a Day Makes!

Yesterday the sun was shining beautifully and my daughter pointed out that last year on this weekend we had 18 cm of snow and the power was out in many places in the lower mainland because of snow and winds. Today we awoke to the opposite of yesterday. It was dark, cold and and dank. By afternoon the snow had started in many places and tonight it is that nasty sloppy muck. Hard to walk in and even harder to drive in. Lot's of fender benders around as west coasters never get used to driving in this kind of stuff.
While surfing the net the other day I came across this picture and had to take a second look. It is done by Del Prete he does subliminal art and at first glance this looks like a naked lady pinning up a sheer curtain, but if you look more closely you will see what it really is.
I am an artist wanna be . I have not got the time to really do much with painting or sketching, but I always do line drawings on note pads and memos while I in meetings or on the telephone. One day I will have time to pursue this art in the meantime I will envy people like Del Prete!

Catch Up!

I can't begin to tell you what all I have been doing since the last real post. There was the NDP convention that took a great deal of energy and left me emotionally drained. It was my first and I am not sure I want to do another.

Then last week was a steep learning curve at work. Lots of new things happening and lots of new people in my life. I like the diversity of the work I do, but at times I long for order and routine.

Friday I went to Bellingham on what I now know was Black Friday! Who knew that Black Friday was the largest shopping day in the US?!?!? I think I am the only woman in Canada who did not know that! Why on earth didn't they name it Shop Till you Drop Day or Sit in Traffic Day! Because that is exactly what I did - sit in traffic. It took me almost two hours to cross the border back into Canada. Good thing I had Miss Lucy to keep me company. Even she was glad to be home after that trek. I also had Lorelei's camera and took this picture on the drive down. It was one of those frosty November mornings and in places there was so much frost that it looked like it had snowed.However, by the time I had reached Bellingham the sky was clear and the sun was shining. The autumn colors made a dramatic splash against the green of the evergreen trees and the blue sky. I loved it and would have loved to have been able to spend the day taking pictures. Speaking of pictures - the lastest word on my camera from Black's Photography shop is that definitely MAYBE my camera is being fixed under warranty in Toronto. This is according to Karen who believe it or not has been the most helpful of the employees I have spoken to there. She also told me if I hadn't heard anything in a couple of weeks to by all means call back and feel free to get more non information! So how's that for service after they have had my camera for a month?

My daughters birthday dinner did not happen as planned (does anything happen as planned?) on Saturday night. So we improvised and ended up going for a very late dinner to the Swiss Chalet. She and I polished off the best part of a bottle of wine together and giggled our way home.

Today was a day of running from one thing to the next. A meeting for a planned future fund raiser. A quick trip to a wonderful yearly craft fair where I bought not much of anything except a pair of tacky Christmas earings. Tacky enough to handle all those Christmas open houses that are piling up in my date book for the month of December!
This coming week I have promised myself more order and discipline in all things! Wish me luck!

I've Been Tagged!

Ha! and it couldn't be a better one. My friend Drowsey Monkey, who has a great blog, tag me with the blue tea pot meme.
The Rules: List 5 to 10 courses you'd like to take to improve your life. Include one you'd like to take with the friend who passed this on to you, and then tag 5 others. All this is optional, so participate if you want

1. The first course I would like to take is a creative writing course to see if I have any creativity in me or if I am just as black and white as I think I am.
2. I would like to take a web design course because I have always wanted to design a web site and I have encouraged every one I know to design a web site but I have never done it because I am a perfectionist and think I will do the whole thing wrong so I won't attempt it at all!!
3. I would like to take a photography course so I could figure out how to capture the beauty of nature better!
4. I would love to take an art course with Drowsy Monkey, because she does some lovely work and if she has only had one formal class then I know I could learn a lot just by being with her and I love her sense of humour so not only would I learn a lot I think she would be a lot of fun to take a course with.
5. I would like to take a Tai Chi class. I have watched Tai Chi being done by groups in the parks around here in the summer and I have read a great deal about it. I think there are over 140 moves, but if you only learn 50 of them it is like having a complete workout because Tai Chi uses your mind and your body in perfect symmetry to create the perfect mind body work out.

1. Frances at Gone Weird
2. Lorelei at Musings
   
3. Sheena
4. fdtate
5. Woman with A Hatchet

Thanks for the tag Drowsey Monkey! I always say that my blogging friends know just what is needed!

HAPPY THANKS GIVING AMERICA!

To Stuff & Roast a Turkey
from : American Cookery. By Amelia Simmons, 1796.

The Great American Turkey Exhibit. One Pound soft wheat bread,3 ounces beef suet, 3 eggs, a little sweet thyme, sweet marjoram, pepper and salt, and some add a gill of wine; fill the bird therewith and sew up, hang down to a steady solid fire, basting frequently with salt and water, and roast until a steam emits from the breast, put one third of a pound of butter into the gravy, dust flour over the bird and baste with the grave; serve up with boiled onions and cranberry-sauce, mangoes, pickles or celery.

Now This Could Make Me A Vegetarian

Remembrance Day Weekend

This was me at the start of a really long weekend. I was dead beat on Friday so Saturday I spent the day doing girly things. You know - hair, clothes shopping, a trip to the local craft fair with my daughters and lunch out. It revived me enough to get up and going the next morning for a very chilly day at the Whalley Cenotaph. It was windy and bitterly damp cold as we stood remembering the brave men and women who gave so much for this country. Many of them gave their lives so that we could enjoy the freedom we have today.

Here three of our dignitaries Penny Priddy, federal MP. Sue Hammell, MLA Surrey Greentimers & Bruce Ralston, MLA Surrey Whalley.
Yesterday I was planning on spending the day outdoors with Lucy, but I got up to find that high winds had taken out the power in many places in the lower mainland and at 9 am ours went out as well. In Some areas the wind reach 110k. I went out in the car for awhile as it was freezing cold in the house. Most of the groceries stores in our area were closed because they had no power and I even had to drive for a bit to find some place to buy gas. Around three o
clock our power was restored only to have it go down again in the evening and not come on till after midnight.

I am always amazed at the power of these winds. They can bring down huge trees in minutes. Here if you follow red line you will see the tree hanging over the power lines. The entire road had been blocked off with yellow tape so people would not drive on it, but as you can see some people feel that they are invincible (or they are just plain stupid)and drive right through the yellow tape!

Remembrance Day 11/11

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
the torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by John McCrae

HAPPY DIWALI

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL MY SOUTH ASIAN FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!

Today is the start of the South Asian festival Diwali. Diwali means "rows of lighted lamps" and is often referred to as the Festival of Lights.
I live in a multi-cultural neighborhood and all around me lights will be lit and fireworks will be going off tonight in celebration. The celebration is very important and equal in importance to Christmas for Christians. The holiday falls on a different date in some parts of India, but is always celebrated in the months of October or November.

Seven Percent of American Women Would Not Vote A Woman for President!

Now this is exactly what I was talking about yesterday!
Reuters carried a story today about women's interest in the upcoming US Presidential election. The article states one in four women are more interested in the 2008 race because Hillary Clinton is running for President and one in four women also said they were more likely to vote for that very same reason. Now that is a good thing, but the troubling part of the poll was the seven percent of women who would not vote for a woman for president no matter what their political affiliation.
I have to ask "What is wrong with you women?" "Haven't you any loyalty to your fellow sisters?"
After all it was that sisterhood that got you the right to vote in the first place. It was a women, Rosa Parks, that got blacks the right to ride at the front of the bus because she felt equal to both men and women of any color!
Historically women have worked hard to make Canada and the US the great countries that they are today.
Ladies.... think about this. Do you really believe the fairy tale you have been told since birth that because you were born with a vagina instead of penis you are incapable doing what a man does? If you really believe this try telling it to the women in Iraq who are fighting side by side with the men to supposedly defend and protect your country from terrorists.

Belonging to the Sisterhood

Today I found some time to play and with the help of Lorelei over at Musings I managed to figure out how to change my own blog template! Sheesh I am so proud of myself I feel just like I did in kindergarten when I learned how to tie my own shoes! And it was about as difficult too!
Today on Musings Lorelei was talking about all the different jobs she has done and what she is planning to do in the future. This got me thinking about the many jobs that women do and have done in this world. Today we theoretically can do almost anything we want. Things like building trades and steel work are readily open to women who want to take it up. While I was thinking about all of this I happened to visit Sheena Wilkie's blogsite. Sheena is a professional photographer in my area and often does videos and pictures that centre around women. I found a video, that she has created, on her site all about women's work. It is beautiful and many of the women in it are known to me. It made me realize how important it is for women to be part of the sisterhood. To stand up for and support each other in order to bring equality and justice for women not just in North America , but around the world.

LNG...Progress or Disaster in the Making?

Most people on the west coast of British Columbia have a love affair with the ocean and all that it means to their life. The people who live on the small islands that dot the coast are even more passionate about life on the water front and develop a lifestyle that is somewhat different from those on the mainland. They are less concerned with the material things and more concerned with the creative side of life. They enjoy the solitiude that island life gives and they find creative inspiration in the beauty and serenity that surrounds them on all sides.

The residents of Texada Island, off the coast of Powell River, have been told that big business is moving in and they fear that their way of life will be lost forever. Westpac is planning on putting a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) import terminal and natural gas-fired generation facility at Kiddie Point. The Island is somewhat divided. There are those who feel that this might bring jobs so their kids can stay on the island instead of having to go to the mainland to find decent work, but there are others who feel like Andrew J. and Pam Mackenzie who wrote this very emotional statement on Texada LNG News "It feels like rape--something very nasty and totally unacceptable being forced on someone"

Having grown up on the west coast water front I understand their passion. Even though I don't live there any more I can' t bear the thought of ruining such a beautiful pristine area and I wonder what will happen if we have an accident at this plant. My friend who I have known almost all my life lives on Texada. Jamie and his wife Heather built their own home on the island and raised their two boys there. Jamie is a folk singer - song writer and he has written the following poem to express his feelings about the LNG.

Gas Pains

Its you and me and LNG
Yes indeed the gas
Extra mental pain it is insane
Somethings are hard to pass
Some players tell you what sounds good
Promise you the moon
But truth be known Bucks the spud
and the loonie calls the tune
So what about the other things
About the lives we live
Why must we dance on strings
and lose what we can't give
And who has got the right now
Cram this down our throats
Lets have a referendum
And see if this ship floats

by Jamie Nuotio

It's Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should Ever be forgot"

It is Guy Fawkes Night in England. A day when the British celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when a number of Roman Catholics, including Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament to protest the Protestant aristocracy that controlled England at the time.
The day is celebrated primarily in England, but also in some areas of Canada, US & New Zealand. The event is celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and a traditionally burning in effigy of Guy Fawkes. However in York, England ,home of Guy Fawkes, the town does not allow the night to be celebrated because no one is willing to take on the chore of finding a way to safely accommodate large groups of people with fireworks and bonfires.
Apparently their fears are well founded as two houses in New Zealand , according to the NZ Herald, were gutted by fires from the celebratory bonfires there.

Weekends Never Last Long Enough!

I can't believe that it is Sunday night already and I haven't even posted since Friday!!

Friday Lorelei over at Musings sent me her old camera because she got a new one and my camera is at the repair shop. I am very grateful to her as I need this camera for work right now as well as to satisfy my addiction.
I was so excited that I took it to dinner with me and snapped pictures of plates and things. (I told you I was addicted to cameras). I could barely wait till I had a few hours to get out and snap pictures. Today I got my chance and I drove with Miss Lucy to the Fraser Valley and snapped pictures of everything on the way!
The Valley was particularly beautiful today. The sun was out and despite the fact that it is the beginning of November it was warm. Winter change was every where though. The mountains have just a dusting of snow on the very tops. The trees are almost bare having lost their glorious leaves in the fall breezes. The fish are spawning and the river banks are lined with their spent carcasses. The Eagles have returned to the Fraser to nest and breed till next spring. Yes everything is getting ready to settle for the winter. That is what I would like to do. Curl up and hibernate till next Spring. I envy bears. They get to pig out all summer getting fat as pigs and then sleep it all off till spring when they get up slim and start all over again. What a life!

Setting Sun

I took lots of pictures and I will put up a flickr badge

Congratulations!

Lorelei

Some One Needs to Tell Celine Dion

that is not a chocolate donut!


found on Worst Halloween Costumes at screamstress.com